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Culture Is Your Strongest Commercial Weapon
A British Sales Leader Playbook for APAC Expansion
EVOLVE Commerce Club
August 31, 2025
Welcome to This Week’s dispatch
In this week’s edition:
Culture is Your Strongest Commercial Weapon
In Partnership with VTEX
VTEX the enterprise digital commerce platform powering global brands..
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Culture as a Commercial Lever
This week, our focus was on sales leadership and culture, themes that cut through every business, but rarely get discussed with honesty.
Richard Cogswell, Commercial Director APAC at Paydock and author of The Cultural Sales Leader, joined us to share why culture is not a “nice-to-have,” but a commercial lever that drives performance across borders, time zones, and industries.
Why does this matter to us as a Club? Because EVOLVE is built on the same principle: commerce is not just transactions, but relationships.
Richard reminded us that sales is the same. Results matter, but culture is what makes them repeatable and sustainable.
We began with a provocation: Isn’t culture just a convenient story for leaders who miss their numbers? Don’t results speak louder?
Richard didn’t dodge it.
“I’m not talking about culture in terms of kumbaya — you don’t need to make that last call, or it didn’t matter that you missed your targets. What I am talking about is using your people to a well-created, articulated, and aligned go-to-market plan.”
For him, culture and results are not opposites. They’re inseparable.
“The most culturally sensitive or aligned company I ever worked for was also the most ambitious. Culture doesn’t weaken ambition, it strengthens it.”
The four types of partnerships
Selling Across Borders
When asked about the hardest market he’d ever faced, Richard took us to APAC.
“Companies often think APAC is like Europe. Yes, diverse — but manageable. That’s a mistake. The diversity here is much deeper. It’s not just language, it’s business culture.”
North Asia was his toughest challenge:
“Hong Kong is often the conduit to China. You can never win Chinese customers from afar. They need trust, detail, and a belief you’re here for the long term. That takes presence, and it takes time. You won’t win customers in six months. More likely, it’s a year.”
Japan, he added, was similar:
“They’ll talk to you endlessly, but without people on the ground, they won’t buy.”
And then the contrast:
“Australia is much more European. If you have a value proposition, you can sell.”
The lesson: markets aren’t just territories; they’re cultures.
In Partnership with Sinatra
the first AI Copilot for Unified Commerce, powered by autonomous AI Agents designed to boost profitability across e-commerce and omnichannel retail
The Cornerstone
Richard’s book, The Cultural Sales Leader, introduces a deceptively simple tool: The Cornerstone.
“It’s a one-pager that captures the essentials — financial targets, three-to-five-year ambitions, cultural goals, and top priorities. I’ve used it to kick off sales meetings, onboard people, and align departments. Everyone should know: What are the top three focuses? What’s the number we’re driving toward? And how do our goals roll into that?”
But he cautioned:
“Culture is fragile. Once you’ve hit your top three priorities, you need to evolve them. The Cornerstone can’t be static.”
In Partnership with Pagbank
Bringing financial innovation from Brazil to the World
The Human Side of Leadership
This naturally led to a question about one-to-ones. NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang has argued against them. Richard saw it differently.
“I’d be a proponent of more check-ins. Not about metrics, but about the person. A half-hour walk, a conversation about career goals. These moments build trust — and they give leaders feedback. If you’re not seeking feedback, how are you adapting?”
He compared it to marriage:
“You have to understand your partner’s goals if you want to build something lasting.”
In Partnership with Braze
A leading Customer engagement platform that helps brands of all sizes create personalized and targeted campaigns across various channels
Questions From the Room
Our members brought sharp perspectives.
Hendrik (South Africa): How do regulation and culture coexist in fintech?
“It can be tense. Compliance teams delay onboarding, customers lose patience. The leader’s job is to bridge the gap — to keep communication flowing, set expectations, and prevent sales and compliance from becoming enemies.”
Member: What happens to B2B sales in the age of AI?
“AI will make good salespeople better. It can’t replace trust. In B2B, the detail is everything, and customers buy from people who understand their challenges in their language.”
Gustavo (Payments Specialist): How do you align leadership ambition with teams that feel too comfortable?
“A sales team is like a car engine. Different parts, all essential. Instead of dictating numbers top-down, I ask my team to present their own plan. That way, they own the number.”
On hiring:
“Curiosity and preparation. I’m shocked when people come to interviews having only glanced at the website. I want candidates who do their homework, talk to people, and come with opinions — even if they’re only 70% right. That shows guts.”
On advice to his younger self:
“I was in too much of a hurry. When I was promoted from salesperson to leader, it took me 18 months to ask for investment in myself. Confidence is knowing you don’t have all the answers — and asking for help.”
Why This Matters
The throughline in Richard’s words was clear: culture is not a slogan, it’s a system. It shapes how you sell, how you hire, how you retain, and how you expand into new markets. It’s fragile — “one headhunter away from breaking” — but renewable when leaders invest in their people.
This is why it connects so deeply to EVOLVE. Just like Richard’s framework, our Club is built not only on expertise, but on culture, the behaviors, consistency, and trust that make growth repeatable.
TL;DR – Richard Cogswell’s Operating System:
Culture is not soft talk, it’s a commercial lever when aligned to a go-to-market plan.
Selling in APAC means patience and presence: trust takes a year, not six months.
The Cornerstone: Richard’s one-page framework for aligning teams.
Member questions explored AI in sales, regulation vs. culture, and aligning ambition.
Key hiring lesson: curiosity and preparation matter more than polish.
Missed this session?
In partnership with Airmeet
Airmeet stands out by designing for connection in a sea of platforms chasing leads. It’s used by companies like Walmart, Accenture, and the University of Toronto, yet it works just as well for emerging communities like ours. We’ve trusted and partnered with Airmeet to run 60+ expert sessions. It’s reliable, intuitive, and built for human interaction, not just metrics.
If you host events where relationships matter more than registrations, Airmeet is worth a closer look
At EVOLVE, we’re not building another networking group.
We’re building a culture one where senior leaders share openly, learn from each other, and form partnerships that last beyond a single event.
What makes us different?
We don’t sell quick wins or inflate numbers. We value patience, depth, and the long view.
Our declaration for the future is simple:
Commerce is community.
And the more we connect, the stronger we all grow.
See you in the sessions,
—
Carlos Monteiro
Founder, EVOLVE Commerce Club
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